The Shark Movie Crushing On Streaming That Is A Jason Statham Meg Rip-off
Shark movies, particularly after the immense success of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, have become a sub-genre of the horror/thriller category, which prompted a massive influx of shark-themed movies trying to capitalize on Jaw‘s success. Forty-three years later, Jason Statham’s The Meg revived the genre, prompting yet another influx of shark-themed movies, one of which is currently crushing on streaming. Those interested in watching The Black Demon can stream the movie that’s currently #1 on Amazon Prime.
The massive success of The Meg and its sequel made megalodons the Big Baddies of the shark thriller sub-genre, as these giant sharks, though to be extinct for at least three million years, have been revived for the purpose of cinematic entertainment, such as The Black Demon.
The Black Demon is streaming on Amazon Prime.
Apparently, the great white sharks—which actually aren’t related to megalodons in any way—just aren’t scary enough. In either case, both apex predators are really scary, and their depictions go as far as to prove that, despite all our intellect, there’s always a more effective killer lurking among nature’s grace.
In fact, we can hardly call these apex predators villainous. In the original The Meg, the explorers, funded by greedy capitalists, were the ones who brought the giant shark out. In Jaws, the main villainous figure was the town’s mayor, who declared the beach safe in the interest of capitalism.
The Black Demon pretty much follows the same premise, with entirely different elements. You probably heard us say, at least once, that originality comes from ignorance, while true genius comes from taking known elements and arranging them in a way that produces something new and awesome.
The highlight is that The Black Demon is actually pretty fun if you neglect the film’s tight budget and the fact that the filming crew and company took clever advantage of oil-soaked water to conceal what would otherwise be characterized as poor special effects.
And while The Black Demon strives to do the latter, it actually falls short of its efforts, resulting in another rip-off looking to capitalize on the major success of The Meg and its sequel. The plot is rather simple; it follows a family stranded on an ocean oil rig while the black demon, a giant black megalodon, batters the decaying rig’s structure in hopes of meaty fruits falling off and providing a feast.
Of course, since the rig is located near the coast of Mexico, one of the employees stereotypically goes on a religious banter, explaining that the black demon was sent by Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain, who is displeased with the rig and the fact that it’s polluting the waters.
He then adds that only a sacrifice to the demon would satisfy Tlaloc. Naturally, the film’s protagonist disregards this banter for what it is, only to be humbled towards the film’s end. We won’t tell you exactly how the film ends to avoid spoilers, but if you watched similar films, you pretty much have an idea about the film’s ending.
Sometimes a film doesn’t need to have a deeper meaning; some movies just need to be fun, and The Black Demon is just that.
Despite being a rip-off, The Black Demon isn’t a bad movie, but it is what it is: a rip-off. The highlight is that it’s actually pretty fun if you neglect the film’s tight budget and the fact that the filming crew and company took clever advantage of oil-soaked water to conceal what would otherwise be characterized as poor special effects. Still, it actually doesn’t take away from the film but actually adds to the fun aspect of the entire movie.
The cast did a pretty good job holding their respective roles, and it’s pretty fun to see Audrey, the protagonist’s teenage daughter portrayed by Venus Ariel, save the day through her understanding of the chemistry of nail products. Overall, The Black Demon is a fun viewing experience, and the audience score over at Rotten Tomatoes provides a pretty good explanation as to why this rip-off currently dominates the viewing charts.
The critics dislike the movie mostly because it lacks any deeper meaning—sometimes a film doesn’t need to have a deeper meaning; some movies just need to be fun, and The Black Demon is just that, a very fun rip-off.
The audience score currently sits at 80/100 on Rotten Tomatoes, based on more than 500 verified ratings by the audience. Our take on the whole film is that it’s obviously an attempt by its filmmakers to capitalize on the success of The Meg, which doesn’t take away that the movie is still fun to watch.
The Black Demon was released on June 19 on digital platforms, and those interested can watch the movie on Amazon Prime.
